One in three people lack access to safe drinking water, says report

One in three people across this world does not have access to safe drinking water, according to a new report by WHO and UNICEF.

According to the joint monitoring programme report, called Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2000-2017: Special focus on inequalities, around 2.2 billion people globally do not have safely managed drinking water services and 4.2 billion people do not have safely managed sanitation services and three billion people lack basic handwashing facilities.

The report states that while there has been remarkable progress in providing access to basic water and hygiene, there are also huge gaps in the kind of services.
UNICEF associate director of water, sanitation and hygiene Kelly Ann Naylor said: “Mere access is not enough. If the water isn’t clean, isn’t safe to drink, or is far away, and if toilet access is unsafe or limited, then we’re not delivering for the world’s children.

“Children and their families in poor and rural communities are most at risk of being left behind. Governments must invest in their communities if we are going to bridge these economic and geographic divides and deliver this essential human right.”

The report states that almost 1.8 billion people have gained access to basic drinking water services since 2000, but there are huge gaps in the availability of these services.
According to estimates, one in ten people (785 million) still do not have basic services, including the 144 million who drink untreated surface water.

The data reveals that eight in ten people living in rural areas do not have access to these services and in one in four countries with estimates for different wealth groups, provision of basic services among the richest was around twice as high as among the poorest.

WHO director for department of public health, environmental and social determinants of health Dr Maria Neira said: “Countries must double their efforts on sanitation or we will not reach universal access by 2030.

“If countries fail to step up efforts on sanitation, safe water and hygiene, we will continue to live with diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid, hepatitis A and neglected tropical diseases including trachoma, intestinal worms and schistosomiasis.”

The report also indicates that three billion people lack basic handwashing facilities with soap and water at home.

It also states that 297,000 children under five years die every year due to diarrhea, cholera, hepatitis A, and typhoid, as a result of contaminated water and poor sanitation facilities.

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